EAST LANSING – Among the few constants over the last five decades in the Michigan State football program, producing high-quality specialists remains at or near the top of the list.

Punter Ryan Eckley and kicker Jonathan Kim are the latest in that lineage. And a welcome sigh of relief for new coach Jonathan Smith to inherit their talented legs.

“We feel solid with the specialist end of it,” Smith said recently.

However, the Spartans are looking to juice up their return game that has languished in recent years.

MSU ranked 88th in the nation last season at 6.85 yards per punt return and 106th at 17.76 yards per kickoff return. And the primary return man for both, Tyrell Henry, transferred to Wisconsin after the coaching change.

It remains to be seen who will emerge in the return game before the Aug. 30 opener against Florida Atlantic (7 p.m./BTN). Smith did not give any names away after last Saturday’s first scrimmage of preseason camp, with the second one scheduled for Saturday, but the former Oregon State leader said the Spartans “have options” that will come down to a few key criteria.

“Whoever's going to return for us, we have deep trust in them that they're gonna field the ball and make great decisions with it,” Smith said Monday. “And then, yes, want to be dynamic, so we're going to put a dynamic, good decision-maker back there.”

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Seniors Alante Brown and Montorie Foster each have experience on both return units. But they also will be counted on to guide a young receiving corps, and Brown suffered a concussion on the opening kickoff of the 2023 season against Central Michigan that set the tone for much of what came next for the Spartans in a 4-8 season in which their coach was suspended and then fired after two games.

Could it be one or both of them? Or could newcomers like Nick Marsh or Kay’Ron Lynch Adams become a factor? Or returnees such as Aziah Johnson and Jaron Glover?

At least having two veterans in Brown and Foster who have fielded kicks and punts in Big Ten stadiums before gives MSU a starting point, said running backs coach Keith Bhonapha, who is handling the return units and splits special teams coordination with defensive assistant Chad Wilt.

“I think it does bring comfort,” Bhonapha said before the first scrimmage. “It gives you an opportunity to feel like, 'OK, at least these guys can do it.' I think when it comes to where college football is at, I go back to the the ability to build depth. And I think we have guys on top of Montorie and Alante who are back there working.”

MSU also brought in a new long snapper in James Madison transfer Kaden Schlickel after losing Hank Pepper (USC) and Drew Wilson (Western Kentucky) to the portal.

“I think we're looking at a very consistent battery of Kaden Schickel as long snapper, but Eckley has been doing a great job at holding,” Wilt said of the field-goal unit. Wilt added that the work Shickel got in the spring with Kim and Eckley has made them “very comfortable with each other” in working through the snaps on both punts and kickoffs.

Kim arrived as a graduate transfer from North Carolina last year and produced an honorable mention All-Big Ten season, going 13-for-18 on field-goal attempts, including four from 50 yards or longer. One of those was a 58-yarder at the end of the first half at Iowa, the fourth-longest in school history.

And the 6-foot, 227-pound sixth-year senior from Virginia also delivered on kickoffs, sending 28 of his 42 attempts for touchbacks.

“We talk about the percentages of the other team scoring based on where they start. So it's just talking about not only kickoff but also punt in how important it is for us to cover that,” Kim said. “Giving (opponents) poor field position has been a very, very hot topic.”

Eckley was less established before the season but emerged as a first-team Freshman All-American and second-team All-Big Ten selection after ranking second in the Big Ten and eighth nationally at 46.8 yards per punt. That was the first-best single-season average in school history, earning him a spot on the Ray Guy Award preseason watch list. The 6-2, 204-pound Florida native showed a booming leg with four punts traveling 60 yards along with accuracy in landing 24 of his 56 punts inside opponents' 20-yard line, with 15 of those stopping inside the 10.

“I go out there with knowing the staff has confidence in me and that I can trust them,” Eckley said. “And when they need me to go out and do my job, they trust me enough to go do it every single time.”

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.

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For openers: Owls

Matchup: Michigan State (4-8 in 2023) vs. Florida Atlantic (4-8 in 2023).

Kickoff: 7 p.m. Aug. 30; Spartan Stadium, East Lansing.

TV/radio: Big Ten Network; WJR-AM (760).

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State football can take comfort in reliable specialists